Anyway, two days of classes are now over. The experience has been quite similar to home, but there are a few key differences that will require me to greatly adapt my learning skills. The foremost example of this is the fact that only one or two of my classes have a "homework"-like assignment system that gets graded. Rather, the entire grade for a class is based on the final exam. What this means is that study is completely self-driven rather than influenced by homework assignments. Needless to say, a tough prospect for an American student, but I think I'll manage.
The other major thing is that I'm the only person over the age of 19 in any of my classes (I turn 21 this Saturday). Reason for this is that the sequence of classes for the Mechanical Engineering degree here is reverse of that back home. Rather than taking theory classes first and then taking application-based classes, British students start by taking classes like Manufacturing Technology and design courses. Topics like heat transfer, thermodynamics, and even basic mechanics are saved for the third and fourth years of study. Strange? You be the judge. But more importantly, how this affects me: I feel funny. Too many young ones around me. But on the other hand, many of these students have already taken crash courses in basic manufacturing technologies and design at the end of high school (A-level courses, as they're called here), so they most certainly know their stuff.
Anyway, it's now 1:30 in the afternoon and it's too nice out for me to keep sitting in here. I'm going to go out and take some pictures which I will surely put up later this evening.
Cheerio!
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